The EEOC’s latest enforcement rules on abortion and gender identity harassment put the agency in the political spotlight

The EEOC recently updated its guidance on issues including gender identity-related harassment and abortion.

Good morning, Broadsheet readers! Trump says he’ll allow states to monitor pregnancies and prosecute abortions if elected in November, women should now get breast cancer screenings at age 40, and the EEOC takes steps to protect workers and ends up in the political spotlight. Have a wonderful Wednesday.

– Equal protection. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s recent changes to enforcement guidance—the rules that govern how the agency enforces federal anti-discrimination law—can read a bit like a Fox News fever dream. Take this NBC News headline: “EEOC says workplace bias laws cover bathrooms, pronouns, and abortion.”

And yet the changes, announced over the last two weeks, will impact workers more than TV pundits. This week’s update on harassment is the first major change to the agency’s enforcement guidelines on the subject in 25 years.

Two weeks ago, the EEOC determined that the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, in addition to protecting pregnant people, covers workers who need accommodations like time off or flexible scheduling related to abortion, considered a “related medical condition” to pregnancy. Then, this week, the agency announced updated guidance for employers on what is and isn’t considered harassment, including sexual harassment and harassment based on gender identity. The guidance consolidated a hodgepodge of five documents issued between 1987 and 1999.

Over the past quarter-century since the EEOC’s last guidance on harassment, the mainstream conversation around gender has significantly evolved. Plus, there’s heightened awareness of workplace sexual harassment following #MeToo. Decades of court rulings have expanded workers’ rights to include being free from harassment, EEOC chair Charlotte Burrows told NBC.

The headline-grabbing changes are the ones that are already hot-button social issues among conservatives; the EEOC said that misgendering workers and denying access to bathrooms consistent with workers’ gender identity are both forms of harassment.

Already, the EEOC’s Pregnant Workers Fairness Act guidelines have prompted a lawsuit from 17 GOP state attorneys general. It remains to be seen whether any conservative officeholders will similarly go after the agency on its harassment guidance. The changes were approved 3-2 by the commission, with two Republican appointees objecting.

So far, the EEOC has made clear why it introduced these changes. Between 2016 and 2023, more than one-third of all discrimination charges received by the EEOC included an allegation of harassment based on race, sex, disability, or another protected characteristic, the commission said.

Burrows said the purpose of the updates was to make clear to employers what their responsibilities are. “We felt we really needed to lay out the contours of the law and where it stands,” she said.

Emma Hinchliffe

emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com

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ALSO IN THE HEADLINES

- Trump 2.0. Former President Donald Trump told Time that, if elected in November, he would let states decide whether to monitor pregnancies and prosecute those who violate state abortion bans. Trump also said he wouldn't veto the Life at Conception Act, a bill popular among House Republicans that would extend the right to life to the “moment of fertilization.” TIME

- Protests persist. Columbia University President Minouche Shafik is under pressure from all sides as she determines the university’s response to pro-Palestinian protests on campus, making the decision to call the New York Police Department officers onto campus Tuesday night. Protestors have accused Shafik of denying them free-speech rights, while some Jewish students say the university administration has fostered an antisemitic environment on campus. Shafik retains the support of the university’s board. Wall Street Journal

- Early screenings. An influential U.S. task force is now recommending that women receive biennial breast cancer screenings starting at age 40, up from age 50. The revision is intended to address an increase in breast cancer incidence among women in their 40s and the higher risk of death among Black women with breast cancer. Fortune

- Techscars. At least 30 people who worked with venture capital firm Techstars over the past year described a toxic work culture and a string of bizarre business decisions at the behest of CEO Maëlle Gavet. They claim Gavet strained relationships with the firm’s managing directors, prioritized the quantity of investments over quality, fired entire teams, and hired executives with little or no relevant experience. Techstars declined to comment on the story but called TechCrunch’s reporting “reckless.” TechCrunch

- Sibling dynamic. Karina Milei is gaining power as a close advisor to her brother, Argentina President Javier Milei. One business leader described Karina, who manages her brother’s public appearances and influences his key appointments, as “just as important as Milei in the running of Argentina.” Financial Times

- Pledging allegiance. Ukrainian-born U.S. Rep. Victoria Spartz (R–Ind.) is defending herself against citizens of her former country who say they feel betrayed by Spartz’s decision to vote against an aid package for Ukraine earlier this month. Spartz said she is “kind of appalled” that people expect her to automatically support Ukraine and argues that her “responsibility is the protection of American people.” AP

ON MY RADAR

How Rachel Khong conjures worlds, in her books and beyond The New York Times

Bella Hadid is finding her way Variety

Normani, on her own time The Cut

PARTING WORDS

“My art is the canvas on which I paint my identity and the sustaining foundation of my livelihood. It is the essence of my being. Yet this is under threat.”

— Singer, dancer, and producer FKA Twigs in a letter to the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property asking them to take action on nonconsensual A.I. deepfakes

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